Not just a game
by Hadrianna
Summary: What would have happened, if Peter had failed to listen to the Beaver and had set off to follow Edmund on his way to the Queen's palace? AU, I guess, oneshot, warning: rated M for violence


_**Not just a game**_

"You can't follow him! You'll be playing right into her hands!", the Beaver cried, flunging itself against Peter to stop him. Peter just shoved him off. "He's my brother!", he said angrily. "So mind your own business!" With that he turned around again, watching Edmund as he made his way through the snow towards the castle of the White Witch.

And there and then he decided to follow him.

"Susan, you take good care of Lucy!" He looked into her eyes, seeking a promise that she wasn't ready to give. "And whatever happens, do not, do _not_ follow me." Finally, after what seemed to him like hours, she nodded and took Lucy's hand. "I will, and we won't", she said hoarsely. The Beaver, not believing his own ears, was about to protest again, but this time Peter ignored him completely and set off to stop his brother while there was still time.

He reached Edmund just when he was passing the high iron castle gate, and he stood a second in shock when he realized just how many poor creatures the so called _Queen of Narnia_ had turned into stone during her terrible reign. When he looked back at the spot where Edmund had been standing, a cold shiver ran down his spine. He must have seen Peter, because he was now running with long steps towards a broad staircase, leading up inside the castle.

"Edmund!", he shouted with a voice high pitched with a mixture of anger and fear. "Come back at once! Oh, for heaven's sake, just for _once _do as you're told!"

Edmund turned around to face him and the look in his eyes was enough to frighten Peter even more. It was as cold as the Witch's spell on Narnia.

"You like bossing others around, don't you?" Suddenly he smiled, evenso it was more like a cruel, self-satisfied grin. "Well, that will certainly change."

"What do you..." Peter never got to finish his question. With a loud _bang_ the castle gate closed shut behind him, then a deep, roaring voice said: "So, you're another one of those son's of Adam, aren't you?"

He saw Edmund turning pale, the grin seemed now to be frozen on his lips. A man stood beside him – or rather a _creature_, having taken human form, but still being a wolf within. Peter had never seen him before and yet he never doubted who it was: Maugrim...

"Ah, have lost your tongue now, haven't you, son of Adam?", Maugrim said and put one of his large hands on Edmund's shoulder. "You have done well, little one, the Queen will be pleased."

"You little... Do you think this is just a game?", Peter hissed, reaching for the sword the Beavers had given him, but before he could have moved even a finger, he was grabbed from behind by something very strong and not very gentle. He gave a scream of pain as his arms were forced behind his back; his hands were tied with rough ropes, his sword was taken from him, and then he was pushed forward towards the staircase. "_Traitor!_", he jeered as he was shoved towards his younger brother.

Edmund didn't respond to this. In fact, he just looked down and didn't seem so self-assured anymore. Not that this helped Peter in any way. He staggered helplessly further into the castle, trying not to fall all those times when Maugrim or the other guard hit him in the back. Edmund followed, silently most of the time, but he still laughed obligingly when the other two did so at Peter's painful moans.

Then they reached the throne room and there, on a throne made of ice, she sat: Jadis, the false Queen of Narnia. Her eyes rested on Peter ever since he entered the room and a soft smile curled her lips. "You came at last, son of Adam, just as you promised." This she said to Edmund, who shyly stumbled towards her, always careful not to look into Peter's eyes. "My... my Queen", he stammered. "I... I brought you my brother... the others wouldn't come, though I tried, I really did."

"Why you treacherous son of a -" Peter snarled and earned another hard blow on his head that finally got him on his knees.

"I do believe you", the Queen said. "But hurry on, then, tell me where the others are, my little _Prince_."

Peter stared at Jadis in utter disbelief. Edmund – her _Prince_! But then he looked at his brother and what he saw there was even worse: he believed her. And he was going to tell her! "Edmund, tell her and I will make you sorry!", he shouted panickly.

"Silence him!", the Queen commanded. Peter knew what was about to come and tried to evade, but the guard, a troll, he now realized, pinned him to the ground with his sheer body weight, while Maugrim crammed a filthy rag into his mouth and tied it harshly behind his head.

"D-don't hurt him, please...", Edmund muttered and then, as if he suddenly had remembered something very important, continued: "...my Queen."

The Queen's gaze turned back to him and it was not half as friendly as before. "Eh? What's that, boy? Are you trying to command _me_!"

"N-no, I-I was just..." Edmund stopped and tried to avoid her ice cold stare, but doing this he met something even more horrid: the blaming look in Peter's eyes – and he saw something else too, something he had never seen there before. Despair. _Please, don't do it. I don't care what happens to me, but don't let her take our sisters!_

"Now then – if you don't want me to hurt your oh so precious brother", Jadis proceeded, "then tell me what I want to know. Where – are – they?"

Now Edmund was almost sure he could hear Peter's voice inside his head. _Edmund, please! You know what she'll do to them – to all of us!_

"Well?" Jadis got up and placed one of her icy hands under Edmund's chin, forcing him to look up at her. "Three seconds, boy. One."

"I..." Her grip was hurting him and he tried to free himself, but the Queen was far too strong.

"Two", she kept on counting, hardening her clench.

_Edmund, don't!_

Jadis sighed. "And three. Very well then." She finally released Edmund and slapped him hard in the face. The sheer force of the blow let him slip on the ice and he toppled over, shrieking in pain as he hit the ground. The Queen didn't even look at him. She made her way past Maugrim and the troll and got on her knees beside Peter. "How strange that someone like _him_", she pointed in the direction where Edmund was lying, "could have such a handsome and noble brother. You would never tell me where your sister are, would you?"

Peter's hostile gaze seemed to be answer enough to her. _Never!_ "Maugrim", she called out.

"Yes, my Queen?", the man-wolf asked.

"Tie him to one of those pillars", Jadis commanded. "And take off his shirt."

"What... what are you going to...", Edmund whispered. He could see in Peter's eyes that his brother would have loved an answer to this too, yet he lay perfectly still as Maugrim cut up his shirt with a dagger and then tore it apart. Shocked Edmund discovered blood on Peter's skin.

"Now, _Edmund_", Jadis tried it a last time. "Are you going to tell me?"

"I... I won't", Edmund answered, his voice shivering with fear and cold. Only a second later he saw how his brother, still on his knees, was flunged against one of the ice columns. His hands were untied, but before he could even think of resistance, Maugrim had fastened his wrists with two iron shackles that had been frozen into the pillar. The ice was so cold that Peter caught his breath the moment his bare chest was forced against it. A thousand needles seemed to slit into him but he somehow managed not to give the slightest sound. He knew that Edmund had thought of all this as a game. Now he was slowly beginning to understand what he had done and what would happen to Susan and Lucy if he told Jadis, but he was still a child. If he saw Peter suffering... If he saw him being tortured... _Oh,_ _Edmund, please! Whatever happens to me, promise me you won't tell her!_ he thought, hoping that the strong Narnian magic somehow would make Edmund understand.

Jadis sighed again, then gave Maugrim a sign. The Captain of her Secret Police suddenly had a leather whip in his hand and an evil, sadistic grin on his face. _Well, at least someone is going to enjoy this_, Peter thought grimly and tried to brace himself as he heard the first **_snap_** of the whip.

Now, Peter had been in Narnia only a few days and was, despite the prophecy's words, just an ordinary boy who never had felt the harsh string of a whip on his soft, delicate skin before. He had read about it, of course, which boy at his age hadn't, in countless fantasy-stories, but he could never have imagined just _how_ much it would hurt. The gag prevented him from screaming, thank God, but still his whimper filled the throne room and Edmund trembled at the sound as if it was he who had been struck.

The Queen laughed, a rough and unpleasant sound. "How about now, little one?"

"N-never." Edmund's voice wasn't as strong as he had hoped but still he could see how Peter gave a sigh of relief – that was, until the whip came down on his back again. And again. And again. Peter felt as if his whole body was torn apart and for a moment there he throught he must have been unconscious. The next thing he could sense was blood trickling down his spine.

"Please, stop it! Please, your Majesty!", he heard Edmund cry, but this time Peter was too dazed to react, too dazed to ask his brother to be strong. The leather string struck him again. Maugrim and the Queen were laughing. His back was burning by now. The only thing crossing his mind was pain. Pain – and a strong wish to tell them everything just to make them stop. Tell them about the Beavers, about the dam and his sisters, tell them everything they wanted to hear.

"I will – as soon as you loosen your tongue. _Where are your sisters!_", Jadis shouted. The words sounded far away, as if they were passing through a thick fog. But still they helped Peter to find his way back into reality. His sisters. Susan, Lucy – right! He never had thought that he would once be so thankful for having been gagged, but he was. If it hadn't been for this filthy scrap of cloth in his mouth _he_ had become a traitor too.

"I... I don't know!" Tears were streaming down Edmund's cheeks. "I swear, I don't know! Leave him alone! I don't know!"

"_Liar!_", the Queen screamed and snatched the whip out of Maugrim's hand. Peter gasped in anguish as the burning pain blazed up again; fiery stars were exploding before him. His eyes started filling with tears too now, but this time he remained strong. He would never betray them, _never_!

Edmund scrambled to his feet and ran in the direction of the Queen, but Maugrim grabbed him before he could reach her. "Please, your Majesty, please", he begged. "Leave him alone! I don't want to be a prince anymore! I want... I want to go home! Please, you will never see me or any of my siblings again, I promise!"

"It's too late for that, little one." Jadis smiled one of her cruel smiles. "Did you really think I had any intention on making you a prince or even a _king_?" The whip hit Peter again and this time his scream, though muffled, echoed through the throne room. Edmund quivered at this, still begging of her to let his brother go. Laughing again, she grasped Peter's hair and bend his head back till he looked her directly in the eyes. "How cruel he is", she whispered in a soft, purry voice. "You're the one being tortured and he won't even answer so simple a question to deliver you from this pain."

Peter just stared at her – what else could he do? He would have hurled every curse he ever had heard in all his life at her if it hadn't been for the gag. The Queen seemed to know this, but she also knew that it would hurt Edmund even more if he could hear his brother scream at the top of his voice, so she roughly removed the rag from Peter's mouth.

"And he... he is right not to... do so!", Peter coughed. "Don't say a word, Ed!" Then he felt the whip again, tearing the skin from his back. He managed not to scream the first time and neither the second nor the third, knowing only too well how Edmund would react, but when Jadis just kept on and on he finally couldn't stand it anymore. Edmund tried to cover his ears, but Maugrim wouldn't let him.

"Listen well to that, boy!", the Queen cried in excitement. "That is _your_ work!"

"That's not... _Ahhhh!_ Ed, that's not _true_!" Another slash, another scream, more blood.

"Peter, I'm... I'm sorry...", Edmund stammered. "I..."

"Don't -" The sentence ended in another shriek of pain and Edmund made a decision.

"Beaver's Dam!", he shouted. "_They're at the Beavers' dam!_"

"Eh?" Jadis lowered the whip and looked straight at Edmund. He could see how Peter collapsed against the ice pillar and he thought he could hear him cry, but the White Witch gave him no chance of speaking to him. "Is that right, boy?", she asked in disbelief. When Edmund nodded slowly, she gave a howl of triumph and ordered Maugrim to release him. Edmund stumbled forward and fell on his knees, feeling strangely empty.

"You know what to do, Maugrim", the Queen said. "Bring them to me – alive. But by no means unharmed", she added with a malicious grin.

"As my Queen commands", Maugrim replied and turned into his wolven shape. Only a few seconds later he had gathered seven other wolves around him and was gallopping out of the throne room, baying in eager anticipation.

"Good boy." Jadis turned around, then signalled at the troll to seize Edmund. "He has well earned his life", she said with a smile. "Put him below, but see to it that he gets something to eat and something hot to drink."

"No!", Edmund sobbed. "What about Peter? You promised you wouldn't hurt him anymore!"

"How naïve you are." Jadis touched his wet black hair, gently caressing him. He didn't dare to move. "Isn't that right, _High King_?" She asked with a glance on Peter. Peter turned around as much as he could, bound as he was, and snapped: "Leave him alone. He is only a child, for Christ's sake!"

"P-peter", Edmund stuttered, "I-I am so... I am so sorry."

"Don't be. It was my own fault for..." Peter smiled sadly. "For playing into her hands. For not listening to the others."

Jadis snorted angrily. "How touching", she commented on their talk. "Take him away!"

"No, no!", Edmund protested and struggled with all his might against the strong arms of the troll, but all he achieved was a hard blow on his forehead that brought him close to unconsciousness.

"Let him go!", Peter commanded, his voice firm now. "He is of no further use to you! The prophecy will not be fulfilled without me – and you know it!"

"My dear boy – you still think all this is about the prophecy?", Jadis asked not the least surprised. "It is not. It is my revenge on the Great Lion for interfering with my plans. And how to let him suffer the most, I wonder?"

Peter knew the answer, it was simple, really, but he didn't say anything.

"By making his precious Kings and Queens suffer", Jadis eventually said and watched with shining eyes how the troll brought Edmund, who was only half-conscious by now, down the stairs to the dungeons. "And especially by making his so-called _High King_ suffer."

And then, just for the fun of it, Peter assumed, she raised the whip one more time and let it strike down on his back as hard as she could. Peter just hoped that Edmund finally had passed out so he wouldn't hear him scream.


End file.
